Page 90 of Little Do You Know

“What? I have to get ready for class,” Sebastian says, grabbing his protein mix off the counter.

“Bash, sit your ass down on one of those stools and shut the fuck up,” my brother instructs, still smiling.

Oh fuck. I think we broke him.

This time, Sebastian listens, sitting on one of the stools.

Owen crosses his arms over his chest. “Consider this an intervention. I love both of you, but enough is enough. I have tried to let you dumbasses figure it out on your own, but I am sick of being stuck in the middle of it. I don’t care what you say or how long we have to sit here, but you two will talk and figure out if you’re together or not. Thalia, you just ran off to France without telling anyone after looking like shit for weeks. Sebastian, you’re letting whatever the hell is going on affect you at football. I’m sick of the guys getting onto me for you acting like a tyrant. So, now I get to babysit you both, and you’re not getting up until I say you can.”

Okay, yeah. This isn’t the lecture I planned on getting today. “You knew?” I ask carefully. It’s a stupid question since he obviously just said he knew, but I don’t know what to say.

“Of course I knew!” Owen scoffs, validating the stupidity of my question. “I know you guys think I’m an idiot or something, but my room shares a wall with Sebastian’s, and I’ve heard more than I care to. There are always flowers in the trash can; I’m not blind! You’re normally better at hiding shit, Bash, but you look at my sister like she’s the only person in the room.”

Sebastian tenses. “Look, Owen—”

Owen waves him off, not finished with his tirade. “Yeah, you suck. Thalia, you suck too. I mean, what the hell? You start fucking my best friend in the apartment we all live in and then don’t say anything to me?”

“It wasn’t just sex,” I correct his assumptions, sighing. “Owen, we were going to tell you after my birthday, and then we broke up because of Vera. I was mad—wait, did you know they hooked up over the summer?”

“I knew Vera’s always had a thing for him.” Owen shrugs as if this was the most obvious thing ever. “You were a surprise when I saw you two kissing at that party our sophomore year. You denied it, then you guys fought, you left, and he never said anything after that. I didn’t know they hooked up until your party.”

Sebastian chokes in surprise. “I’m sorry, you’ve known since sophomore year?”

Owen glares at him, clearly pissed at his best friend. “Yeah. I wasn’t happy then, and I’m not exactly happy now, but I’ll try to keep our friendship separate from you guys if you do the same. I don’t want to find a new best friend because I can’t send my sister back,” he says, and I realize how much I’ve underestimated my brother. I can’t believe he’s known this entire time. “Can we move on from this whole I knew the entire time to get to why I’ve put you both in time-out? Do you want to be together or not?”

I look at Sebastian only to find that he’s already looking at me. “Lia, you know where I stand. I want to be with you, but I’m not perfect. You need to trust me that I couldn’t care less about other girls, including Vera. I want you and only you.”

“I know,” I say immediately. Sebastian has been clear in his intentions, and now it’s my turn. “I feel horrible for how we left things. I’m afraid of letting you in because the last time I let a guy in…well, you know how that turned out. I thought the space would help me sort through the chaos of my mind, but all it did was show me how much I miss you. I want to be together despite how scary it might be.”

Owen clears his throat, interrupting the moment. Some babysitter Owen is if he’s already interfering with the progress we’re making. He could just pretend he’s not here. “Perfect. Glad we sorted that out. Don’t overthink it; you two are making this way harder than it should be. Congratulations, you can admit you care about each other! Now, find a way to make it work without making everyone else miserable. Just let me know if you need me to leave.” He shudders, walking past us to the bedrooms.

Sebastian looks at me, shell shocked. I feel the same way. “That all happened, right?”

“I think it did.” I cover my mouth to stifle my laugh, and Bash shakes his head.

“Do you think we should tell him we were already going to sit down and talk today?”

“Owen still would have made us sit here,” I say, grinning, and he chuckles.

“Yeah, probably.”

I look at Sebastian, analyzing every detail about him. It’s really good to be in the same room as him again. “So you were a tyrant when I was gone?” I ask, and he shrugs, looking away.I know that’s what Chris claimed, but I hoped he was exaggerating.

“That appears to be the consensus.” He sighs, getting up to finish making his shake.

I twist my hands in my lap, regretting not calling Bash again after he didn’t answer the first time. “I’m sorry for how I left. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I also didn’t want to say something I would regret.”

Bash looks at me openly, his dark eyes fixated intensely on me. “I know you didn’t. I’m sorry for asking you to stay and letting Vera into the apartment. I should have known better.”

“It’s okay. You were being a kind person, and she took advantage of that. Your kindness is one of my favorite things about you,” I say, smiling reassuringly. Sebastian has many qualities I admire. “If it’s still on the table…I’d like to be with you and to give us a shot. I want us to have a fresh start.”

Sebastian puts his hands behind his head. Whatever he’s thinking is making me anxious. “Can I explain something first?”

It’s going to be okay. Whatever he says won’t change anything.I want everything that comes with being with Sebastian.

“Last June, I went to visit Mimi. It was awful; she didn’t know who I was at all. I’d never seen her that bad before, and it scared me because it became real that I was losing the last bit of family I had left. Mimi just kept screaming at me to leave her alone. She thought I was going to hurt her.” The raw pain on his face makes me want to hug him and never let go. Having Mimi not recognize me was awful, but Mimi didn’t raise me.

I can’t imagine being in Bash’s shoes. No one has ever mentioned family other than Mimi, but I hadn’t put together he’s basically alone. It puts more perspective on what Sebastian risked when he told me how he felt. I should have considered that my family is also his.

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